Day 17: N. Brio (Crash 4)
If you had to ask me who I thought the most underrated Crash Bandicoot villain is, without even thinking about it, I would have to say it's Dr. Nitrous Brio, Dr. Cortex's original right hand man, or as Brio himself said it best.
N. Brio (Mind Over Mutant): I! Was in! The first! GAME!
And despite that fact, he really didn't appear much after the original Crash Bandicoot game. He was an ally in Crash 2, reappeared in Crash Twinsanity, and then became a key player in Crash Mind Over Mutant. That's it!
But fortunately, ever since The N. Sane Trilogy came out back in 2017…I can't believe almost six years have passed since then either…N. Brio has been making somewhat of a comeback as he not only became a playable character in Crash Team Racing Nitro Fueled, but also he came back as a boss in Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time. And wouldn't you know it, that's the battle we're going to be talking about today.
This fight with N. Brio plays out very similarly to his fight from the Original Crash game, right down to being divided into two phases.
Like in the original fight, N. Brio will start this battle by throwing potions at you. Purple potions will create shockwaves upon breaking that you'll need to jump over while the green potions create slime monsters that you need to defeat. Defeating one will result in N. Brio taking a hit. The number of slime monsters increase with each hit you deal, however, so it'll start with one, then go to two, and finally you're dealing with three slime monsters.
There's also a moment towards the end of the first phase where N. Brio will throw the purple potions at a rapid pace and jumping over the shockwaves can be very challenging given how fast they come at you.
Destroy all six slime monsters, and N. Brio will be down to one hit point. Still taking notes from his PS1 days, N. Brio will drink one of his potions and go full 'Hulk Mode' to chase you down, kicking off phase two.
As Hulk Brio chases you down, he'll slam his fists onto the floor, creating more shockwaves for you to jump over. Slamming his fists individually will create small shockwaves while both fists will create shockwaves that'll cover the whole arena.
Brio will eventually get tired, and the Quantum Mask Akano will come to you so you can Dark Matter Spin him off of the side of the arena. Do this two more times and the fight is over.
Like I said earlier, the fight with N. Brio from Crash 4 is like his fight from Crash 1, but with a few added differences that make the fight a fun challenge.
Ultimately though, I'm just glad that N. Brio is being brought back into the spotlight, and if the Crash Bandicoot series keeps going in the direction it's heading, then I'm sure the good doctor has a bright future ahead of him.
See you in the next game, you beautiful potion crazed lunatic.